Personalized parlor game

ABSTRACT

A parlor game having game playing pieces which can be used to play conventional parlor games, such as a game of chess, and which can still be personalized to provide an aesthetic appearance or decor consistent with that desired by a user. The game board and playing pieces can still nevertheless represent playing pieces for particular games, as for example, those pieces used in the game of chess. A unique game board having a three dimensional playing surfaces is also provided.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] A parlor game having game pieces which can be personalized andwhich still nevertheless represent unique playing pieces in a parlorgame, as for example, a game of chess, as well as a game board having athree dimensional playing surface arrangement thereon, and moreparticularly, to a well known parlor game which can be both personalizedand provide a unique play experience which allows for use of the rulesof the game, but alters the effects of playing the game.

[0003] 2. Brief Description of Related Art

[0004] The game of chess has been well known for hundreds of years andis indeed so popular, that it has fostered game competitions,tournaments, and the like. It is also a game frequently played by manypeople in many countries as a recreational pastime. The same holds truewith other parlor games which may not have the same popularity andpresence of chess, but which are still well known and frequently played.

[0005] There have been very few changes in the game of chess over thesehundreds of years. In essence, the rules have changed only veryslightly, if at all. There have been various forms of game boards andgame playing pieces with some being more valuable than others, dependingupon handmade components and materials of construction. As a simpleexample, many of the game playing pieces in the game of chess have beencarved from wood by numerous wood craftsmen. The game boards have beenformed of wood, marble, and other decorative materials. However, beyondthese aesthetic appearances and value of the components used in thegames, very little has changed.

[0006] In essence, the playing pieces and the game board in the game ofchess is actually quite static in that the playing pieces all have knownshapes, as for example, a King, a Queen, a Knight, a Bishop, a Pawn, anda Castle. Moreover, the game board itself also is quite static in thatit contains the same board pattern used not only for the game of chess,but for other games as well. As a result, once a household, interestedin maintaining a game of chess, has purchased this game, new purchasesare not made, except where one or more of the game playing pieces arelost or the game board itself may have been damaged or destroyed fromuse. Consequently, sales of the game of chess, remain somewhat static.

[0007] Inasmuch as the playing pieces and the game boards in the game ofchess, as well as other well known parlor games, such as checkers andthe like, have not changed over the years in any appreciable sense,there is very little motivation to purchase a new replacement of thesame game.

[0008] It would be desirable to provide a game, having well knownplaying rules, such as the game of chess, and particularly strategygames such as the game of chess which can be played with the same gamerules, but with a new playing effect. In other words, games having thecapability of being played with the same game rules, such as chess orcheckers, but which provides a totally different play environment wouldhave enormous player appeal with a concomitant advantage of increasingotherwise stagnant sales. In addition, it would be desirable to providegame playing pieces which can be personalized to the tastes of aparticular user and which would still represent recognizable playingpieces, to enable the orderly play of a game, such as a game of chess.

[0009] A game board having multi-level playing surfaces could still becapable of allowing for the play of a game with standard game rules, andwhich would still nevertheless provide a very different game playingenvironment, such that a player would feel that he or she is playing anew game but nevertheless with the rules employed in a well known game.Such a game playing board would necessarily have to allow for completevisibility of the location of the various playing pieces to enable aplayer to observe the locations of relevant playing pieces and stillplan his or her strategy in moving the playing pieces.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0010] It is, therefore, one of the primary objects of the presentinvention to provide a parlor game having unique playing pieces and aunique game board, and which playing pieces can be personalized toconform to the tastes of the user thereof.

[0011] It is another object of the present invention to provide a parlorgame of the type stated which allows for play of a conventional game asfor example, a game of chess, but with a different playing effect andplaying environment.

[0012] It is a further object of the present invention to provide aunique game board which allows for playing and movement of game piecesat different levels of the game board, thereby providing a new playeffect and feel, but also still allowing for the play of the game inaccordance with conventional game rules.

[0013] It is an additional object of the present invention to provide amethod of playing a game which allows for personalization of certain ofthe game pieces and which also allows for play in a different game boardenvironment, but which still allows for use of the conventional rulesfor that game.

[0014] It is another salient object of the present invention to providea parlor game of the type stated which can be constructed at arelatively low cost and which allows the user of the game a wide varietyof changes to personalize the game to that user's taste and for thatmatter, to some extent the user's desired mode of play.

[0015] With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides inthe novel features of form, construction, arrangement and combination ofparts and components presently described and pointed out in the claims.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0016] A parlor game such as a game of chess having standard playingrules but which employs a unique game board and/or unique personalizedgame playing pieces. The invention thereby allows not only for adifferent game board and playing pieces, but also for a differentenvironment in which to play a well known parlor game.

[0017] Although the invention is applicable to a large number of games,including, for example, backgammon, checkers, chess, and the like, withboth unique playing pieces capable of being personalized, and/or aunique game board, the parlor game of the invention will be described inconnection with the play of the game of chess. Thus, and for thispurpose, standard chess rules could be used in connection with the playof the game or for that matter, other rules could be modified to takeadvantage of the unique playing pieces and/or unique game board. Thus,and while the present invention is described in connection with the gameof chess, it is to be understood that the invention is not so limited.

[0018] In one embodiment of the invention, the playing pieces areuniquely designed so that they can be personalized by a user. Theplaying pieces in this embodiment have a base, so that the pieces arecapable of standing, as well as at least one transparent plate, locatedalong with another backing plate, which may be transparent or which maybe opaque. Preferably, each playing piece has a pair of transparentfaces on each of the opposite sides so that it may be observable to bothplayers who are sitting on opposite sides of the game board.

[0019] In this embodiment of the invention, the game playing pieces havea pair of upstanding plates separated by a gap sized to receive aphotograph or other personalized substrate having indicia thereon. As asimple example, a playing piece is adapted to receive a conventionalphotograph, or otherwise, a personalized drawing or the like. It ispreferable to have a pair of photographs facing through oppositetransparent faces of the game piece so that each of the players will beable to simultaneously view each playing piece. However, it is possibleto use game playing pieces having one transparent face, as well as oneopaque face and which opaque face has a mirrored surface facing thetransparent plate.

[0020] In another embodiment of the parlor game, there is provided aunique game board which allows for play of the game at differentvertically spaced apart levels of play. In this respect, it should beunderstood that the game board could be played without the uniquepersonalized game playing pieces and therefore with conventional playingpieces. In like manner, the unique playing pieces of the invention couldbe used with the game board of this invention, or they could be used ona conventional game board.

[0021] The game board is comprised of a plurality of different playingboard sections which are located in vertically spaced apartrelationship. Each game board section or tier which is higher than thenext succeeding game board section or tier also has a surface area lessthan the playing board section located immediately therebeneath. In oneembodiment of the invention, there are provided, for example, five boardsections which are vertically spaced apart. Thus, the uppermost boardsection has the small surface area, with the second uppermost boardsection having the next smallest surface area, and so forth, so that thelowermost board section has the largest surface area.

[0022] In accordance with the above-identified construction, playingpiece spaces, such as playing squares, are located on the periphery oneach of the board sections for easy visibility. Thus, for example, thelowermost playing board section will have playing spaces located only onthe periphery thereof. The same holds true with each of the other gameboard sections except for the uppermost game board section.Nevertheless, all tiers in combination present the same number of spacesand in the same two dimensional arrangement as a conventional gameboard. The individual playing piece spaces must be completely observablefrom both sides of the game board, so that each succeeding level of gameboard section must be sufficiently smaller than the game board sectionlocated therebeneath, and so that there is no obstruction in viewing ofthe playing pieces.

[0023] In one embodiment of the game board, each of the game boardsections may be provided with a transparent plate and an opaque plate.The transparent plate may be separated from the opaque plate by a coinor like member designating the location for any playing piece, and tothereby constitute a playing space on the game board.

[0024] It should be recognized that it is not necessary to use coins todesignate a playing space. Rather, pieces of paper or other substratecould be located between the transparent sheet and the opaque sheet toidentify a playing space. Other markings could also be used for thispurpose, as for example, etching on the upper plate which may be a glassplate.

[0025] It can also be observed in connection with the invention that itis possible to play the game with conventional game playing rules, asfor example, a game of chess with well known chess rules. However,because of the unique arrangement of the playing board and thedifference of the playing pieces, it is possible to alter the rules inaccordance with the desires of the players of the game.

[0026] This invention possesses many other advantages and has otherpurposes which may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration ofthe forms in which it may be embodied. These forms are shown in thedrawings forming a part of and accompanying the present specification.They will now be described in detail for purposes of illustrating thegeneral principles of the invention. However, it is to be understoodthat the following detailed description and the accompanying drawingsare not to be taken in a limiting sense.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Having thus described the invention in general terms, referencewill now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0028]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a game board having multi-levelplaying surfaces thereon and constructed in accordance with andembodying the present invention;

[0029]FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the game board of FIG. 1;

[0030]FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing anarrangement for spacing two board tiers by means of spacers used in thepresent invention;

[0031]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the board tier spacers ofthe invention;

[0032]FIG. 5 is fragmentary side elevational view showing theconstruction of each board tier in the game board of the presentinvention;

[0033]FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view taken essentially along theplane of line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

[0034]FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the game board of FIG. 1 showing allof the game board sections therein;

[0035]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of one personalizable game playingpiece in accordance with the present invention;

[0036]FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing theinsertion of a personalizing element into the playing piece of FIG. 8;

[0037]FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a playing piece having therepresentation of a Knight in accordance with the game of chess;

[0038]FIG. 11 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 8 and showing arepresentation of a modified form of Knight used by an opposing playerin the game of chess;

[0039]FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a drinking goblet representing aBishop in accordance with the play of the game of chess; and

[0040]FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a modified form of playing piecein the nature of a modified form of Bishop used by an opponent in theplaying of the game of chess in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to thedrawings, which illustrate several practical embodiments of the presentinvention, there is illustrated and described a unique parlor gamecomprised of a unique game board 20 and a set of unique playing piecesused therewith. This game board and the game playing pieces allow forplay of conventional games in accordance with conventional rules, but ina modified manner, all as hereinafter described in more detail.

[0042] The game board 20 of the present invention is comprised of aplurality of game board sections or tiers 22, as best shown in FIGS. 1and 7 of the drawings, and each of these board sections constitute tiersand are frequently referred to as “board tiers”. Each game board sectionhas an upper playing surface in a manner to be hereinafter described inmore detail. Moreover, each of the game board sections are spaced apartfrom one another by means of tier spacers 24 which allow for spacedapart separation of each of the game board sections. These tier spacers24 may be provided with enlarged heads and enlarged feet so that whenused in combination with other posts, they will support the tiersthereabove in a stable manner. Moreover, if desired, the posts could besecured to the tiers spaced thereabove and therebeneath, either througha permanent securement means or a releasable securement means.

[0043] Each tier spacer 24 is more fully illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 ofthe drawings. In this particular case, it can be observed that each tierspacer 24 is comprised of a lower foot plate 26 having an upstandingpost 28 extending upwardly from the upper surface thereof. Mounted onthe upper end of the post 28 is a head plate 30 comprised of a plasticsheet 32 and a glass sheet 34, disposed on the upper surface of thesheet 32. In this case, the sheet 32 could be formed of an opaqueplastic, or otherwise, it could be transparent along with the glasssheet 34. The same holds true of the base foot 26.

[0044] Each tier has a construction which is more fully illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings. Thus, one tier 34 may have a blackplastic base 36 and a spaced apart glass top plate 38. A glass sheet 40,also operating as a spacer, carries on its upper surface, a coin such asa silver dollar 42, all as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings.In accordance with this construction, when one looks through the glassplate 38, they will readily observe the glass spacer 40 along with thecoin 42. Although this is one form of spacer which can be used in thepresent invention, it should be understood that any of a variety ofspacers could be used.

[0045] In the embodiment of the invention as shown, there are four boardsections, although, the number of board sections or tiers could vary inaccordance with the invention. By referring to FIG. 7, the exact spacingof each playing piece face can be observed. In effect, FIG. 7constitutes a top plan view of all of the tiers, and emphasizing theperipheries of each of these tiers, which constitute playing piecespaces.

[0046] Each board section is substantially similar in construction,except for size. As indicated previously, any one of the intermediateboard sections is smaller in surface area than the board sectionimmediately therebeneath, and is larger in area than the board sectionimmediately thereabove. The uppermost board section has the smallestsurface area and the lowermost board section has the largest surfacearea. If desired, the lowermost board section could be spaced from asupporting surface by means of a base plate, but which would notconstitute a board section since it would not be involved in the play ofa game.

[0047] The individual tiers forming part of the game board are allpreferably mounted on a base 50, comprised of a base plate 52 formed ofa black glass material. Disposed on the upper surface of the base plate52 is a glass sheet 54, having a mirrored surface thereon. Thus, thebase plate can actually show through the mirrored surface and moreover,the base plate is preferably formed of a black material. In this way,the base 50 does not really interfere with the playing of a parlor game,but merely serves as a support for the various tiers. Mounted on theupper surface of the uppermost tier 34 is a top plate 56. In this case,the top plate could also be a mirrored surface, but in the preferredembodiment, is a generally solid surface. Here again, the top plate 56could have the same construction as the base 50. The top plate 56primarily serves to cover any space that does not constitute an outerrow of playing spaces.

[0048] For the game of chess and similar games in a rectangular gridpattern having rectangular and particularly square shaped playing areas,the lowermost board section of the invention will have a total of twentyeight playing piece spaces located along the periphery thereof. Thus,there will be eight playing piece spaces on each of the sides of agenerally square lowermost playing piece board section. The next upperplaying piece board section will have a total of twenty playing piecespaces, again all located on the periphery thereof. Thus, six playingpiece spaces will be located on each of the four sides of the generallysquare shaped playing board section.

[0049] The next uppermost board section will have a total of twelveplaying piece sections thereon, in a grid of four playing pieces by fourplaying pieces, with four playing piece spaces located along each of thefour sides of that game board section, and, again, which will all belocated along the periphery thereof. Finally, the upper board sectionwill have four spaced apart playing piece sections located thereon, withtwo on each side.

[0050] In the embodiment as shown, each side of the lowermost playingpiece tier will have eight spaces, and four of those spaces are of onecolor, such as a black color, and the other four of those spaces are ofa white color. This arrangement follows around the periphery of theentire lower tier. Again, in the next uppermost tier, there will be sixplaying piece spaces on each side, and three of those playing piecespaces will have one color, whereas the other three playing piece spaceswill have the opposite color. In the third tier, there are twelveplaying piece spaces, with two playing piece spaces on each side havinga dark color, and two having a light color. Finally, the uppermost tierwill have only four playing piece spaces with two diagonally locatedblack playing piece spaces, and two diagonally white playing piecespaces.

[0051] It should be recognized that the colors could be partiallytransparent only providing a pigment, if desired, but would nototherwise obscure the sight through the board. Thus, even with a blackcolored playing piece space, the black would be relatively transparentso as to allow viewing through the game board.

[0052] It is also possible to designate playing piece spaces by the useof a coin located at each of the playing piece spaces. Thus, aparticular tier spacer could be used with certain types of coins on theupper surface thereof. Thus, one type of coin could represent blackspaces, and another type of coin could represent white colored spaces.Any arrangement for designating the particular colors of the spaces, todistinguish one player's space from another, can be employed.

[0053] As indicated above, an individual coin can be located at eachplaying piece space and identifies a landing position for any particularplaying piece in the game. Here again, the individual plates and thecoins therebetween are preferably secured to one another to preventmovement thereof. A conventional clear adhesive can be used for thispurpose so that each coin is permanently affixed to the plate thereaboveand the spacer plate immediately therebeneath. When so laminated, thepair of plates with the coins therebetween constitute an individualboard section.

[0054] It can also be observed that additional identification can belocated on each of the plates or between the plates of each boardsection to further identify a playing piece space. In the embodiment ofthe invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, there is also preferablyprovided a paper or paperboard substrate 46 located between the upperplate 38 and the lower plate 36. Moreover, that substrate is preferablylocated on the upper surface of the lower plate 36 so that a coin may bedisposed on that upper surface of the substrate and appear through theupper transparent plate.

[0055] In accordance with the invention, the upper plate 38 should becompletely transparent so as to allow ready visibility of each of theindividual playing spaces located along the periphery thereof. The lowerplate of each board section could be opaque as for example, providedwith a black surface. This is due to the fact that with the constructionof the invention, it is only necessary for the players to observe theplaying piece spaces located along the periphery of each board section.Moreover, a view of the interior portions might be confusing to theplayers. However, if desired, each of the plates of each board sectioncould remain transparent.

[0056] It should also be understood that it is not necessary to useposts per se in order to maintain a spatial relationship between eachboard section. For this purpose, square blocks or the like could beemployed. Moreover, it is even possible to employ prisms or otherstructures to obtain a spatial separation between each of the individualtiers forming part of the game board. It is, however, important to beable to insure that each of the spacing elements can be secured to theboard section thereabove and the board section therebeneath. Moreover,the spacing elements can be selected with a desired shape to provide anoverall theme or appearance to the game board.

[0057] By reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 7, it can be seen that a pair ofplayers on opposite sides of the game board can easily and readilyobserve all of the playing piece spaces. Moreover, since each tierprovides playing piece spaces located above or beneath the spaces ofthat tier, a new dimension in the play of the game has been added. Notonly is there the addition of a third dimension to the game board, butthis presence of the third dimension actually requires an increaseddegree of concentration on the game board in order to spatiallydetermine, in a player's mind, the desired move for the next playingpiece. In other words, the player is not merely concerned with movinghis or her playing piece on a flat game board, but the player must takeinto account the actual difference in perception of the playing piecebeing located at a different height than others of the playing pieces.However, it is important to note that the playing piece spaces areimmediately apparent to each of the players of the game since they arelocated at the peripheries of each playing piece section.

[0058]FIG. 8 illustrates one of the playing pieces that may be used in agame, such as the game of chess. In this case, a playing piece 60 iscomprised of a support block 62, having an elongate slot 64 extendingtherethrough. Mounted in that slot 64 are a pair of either glass orplastic transparent vertically arranged plates 66 and 68. Moreover, aspace 70 can be created between the two plates 66 and 68, by merelyengaging the upper edges and spreading the plates slightly apart. Inthis way, a personalized item, such as a photograph 72, may be insertedfully within the space between the two plates 66 and 68.

[0059] In order to enable some yieldable movement of the plates 66 and68, without risk of breaking, these plates are preferably formed of atransparent plastic material, such as a transparent polyethylene ortransparent polyvinyl chloride.

[0060] In place of the photograph 72, any other personalized item can beinserted in the space 70. However, it is preferable for the personalizedplaying piece 60 to have some substrate 72, which will at leastpartially identify the type of playing piece. However, it should berecognized that certain of the playing pieces could be provided withdiffering sizes or shapes. Moreover, some could have differingappearances. Thus, for the purposes of a king playing piece, that piececould be of a relatively large size compared to the other playingpieces. For a queen playing piece, it could be formed of a size largerthan other playing pieces, but smaller than the king, and so forth.

[0061] Notwithstanding the foregoing, the plates 66 and 68 are rigidlymounted within the base 62. Thus, a simple adhesive, or the like, wouldbe sufficient for suitably mounting the plates in the base block 62.

[0062]FIG. 9 is an embodiment of the playing piece 60 of FIG. 8, withthe personalized substrate 72 inserted therein. In this case, it can beobserved that the two vertically arranged transparent sheets 66 and 68,will close and tightly hold the substrate 72 therein. Thus, this playingpiece functions as a single playing piece, but which is neverthelesspersonalized in accordance with the taste or preference of the players.

[0063] In order to further distinguish certain of the playing pieces,FIG. 10 illustrates a knight playing piece 76. This knight playing pieceis comprised of a pair of vertically arranged plates 78 and 80, whichcan also be spread apart in order to receive a personalized substrate.These plates are similarly mounted on a base 82. However, in order todistinguish this playing piece as a knight in the game of chess, it isprovided with a ball and chain arrangement, having a chain 84, and aball 86, with a handle 88 on the opposite side. This ball and chainarrangement may be affixed to the plates in any conventional manner.

[0064] In order to distinguish from this particular knight, a secondknight 90 is provided, as best shown in FIG. 11. In this case, there isonly a single plate 92 mounted in a support base 94, which may be asupport block. However, the plate 92, which is preferably formed of aplastic material, has an elongate recess 96 extending verticallytherein, and located in this recess is a miniature representation of asword 98. Moreover, the sword could be inserted in the slot or recess96, and physically held therein by a suitable adhesive. Nevertheless,this knight in FIG. 11, along with the knight 76 in FIG. 10, illustratesat least the two knights which may be used in accordance with theinvention.

[0065]FIG. 12 is a small representation of a miniature goblet 100, whichmay represent, for example, a bishop in the play of the game of chess.In order to represent a bishop for the opposing player, there isprovided another goblet 102 in FIG. 13. Again, these goblets aredesigned to represent wine glasses, and thereby depict a bishop.However, other representations could be used. For example, a cross onthe surface of one of the vertical sheets could be used to represent abishop. The exact form of the playing piece is not necessarily critical,but it is important for each playing piece to identify a particularplaying piece of the type used in the game of chess, so that there are asufficient number of playing pieces.

[0066] In each of the embodiments, where the sheets are capable of beingspread apart, one of the sheets may be formed of a glass or plastictransparent material, and the other sheets could be opaque and providedwith a black surface or the like. Otherwise, one of the sheets couldhave a black color to it, but nevertheless still be transparent, such asa smoked glass. The exact form of the plates are not absolutely criticalin accordance with the invention. Furthermore, it should be recognizedthat certain other playing pieces could have individual representationsfor such playing pieces.

[0067] Thus, and in accordance with the invention as described, it canbe observed that a conventional game, such as a game of chess orcheckers, or the like, can be played using the game board of theinvention. Moreover, the game can be played in a different format thanwith the standard game board, since it can be played on a game boardhaving a plurality of individual tiers. In addition, each of the gameplaying pieces can be personalized to conform to the tastes of theindividual players or users.

[0068] It is preferable, however, to ensure that each of the playingpieces are capable of being observed by both players on opposite sidesof the game board. In this way, the players may very quickly and readilydetermine the position of each of the individual playing pieces in orderto determine their strategy.

[0069] Thus, there has been illustrated and described a unique and novelpersonalized parlor game, and which thereby fulfills all of the objectsand advantages which have been sought. It should be understood that manychanges, modifications, variations and other uses and applications whichwill become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering thespecification and the accompanying drawings. Therefore, any and all suchchanges, modifications, variations and other uses and applications whichdo not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed tobe covered by the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what we desire to claim and secureby Letters Patent is: 1 A parlor game which is capable of beingpersonalized to the tastes of a particular user of the game and whichstill allows for play of a game using conventional rules for the play ofthat game, said parlor game comprising: (a) a game board having aplurality of playing piece spaces and which are adapted to receiveplaying pieces thereon during the play of a game; (b) a plurality ofindividual playing pieces with certain of the playing pieces adapted forone opponent player and certain others of the playing pieces adapted foruse by another opponent player; (c) means for allowing personalizationof certain of the playing pieces so as to effectively customize theparlor game to the tastes of a particular user thereof. 2 The parlorgame of claim 1 further characterized in that said game board comprisesa plurality of vertically spaced apart game board sections with each ofthe game boar capable of receiving one or more playing pieces thereonduring the play of a game. 3 The parlor game of claim 1 furthercharacterized in that said game is capable of being played as a game ofchess in accordance with the standard rules of a game of chess and whereeach opponent player has a plurality of differing types of playingpieces to represent the different playing pieces used in a game ofchess. 4 The parlor game of claim 1 further characterized in thatcertain of the playing pieces are designed with a gap between a pair ofplates so as to receive a personalized substrate with indicia thereon. 5The parlor game of claim 2 further characterized in that said game boardis provided with a plurality of spaced apart board sections, and each ofwhich board sections are similar in appearance but differ in sizerelative to one another. 6 The parlor game of claim 5 furthercharacterized in that said board sections comprise an uppermost boardsection and a lowermost board section with at least one intermediateboard section with the uppermost board section being the smallest inarea and the lowermost board section being the largest in area and eachintermediate board section being larger than the one immediatelythereabove. 7 A parlor game arrangement having a game board which allowsfor the play of a conventional parlor game but which also increases theskill or perceptive ability of the players and which may be played usingconventional game rules for the play of that parlor game or modifiedgame rules, said game board comprising: a) a plurality of levels ofplaying boards spaced apart from one another such that certain ones ofthe tiers are located above others of the tiers; b) each of said tiershaving a plurality of playing piece spaces thereon; c) each tier havinga lesser number of playing pieces spaces than the tier locatedimmediately therebeneath. 8 The parlor game assembly of claim 7 furthercharacterized in that each tier has playing piece spaces located onlyalong the periphery of each of said boards. 9 The parlor game assemblyof claim 7 further characterized in that there are four individual tierswith the lowermost tier having a total of thirty playing piece spaceslocated on the periphery thereof, the next uppermost tier having twentyplaying piece spaces located on the periphery thereof, and the next tierhaving twelve playing piece spaces located on the periphery thereof,with the uppermost tier having four playing piece spaces located alongthe periphery thereof. 10 The parlor game assembly of claim 7 furthercharacterized in that each of said tiers are spaced apart from oneanother by tier spacers located between that tier and the tierimmediately therebeneath. 11 The parlor game assembly of claim 7 furthercharacterized in that said game board has a base plate beneath andsupporting each of the playing piece tiers and a top plate disposed overthe uppermost of the tiers and having a size which is less than theuppermost of the tiers. 12 The parlor game assembly of claim 7 furthercharacterized in that each of the tiers are separated from one anotherby tier spacers such that there is a space existing between each of thetiers. 13 A parlor game arrangement having unique individual playingpieces which can be personalized to the tastes of the players or usersthereof, said playing pieces comprising: a) a first playing piece havinga base capable of supporting an upstanding element thereon; b) meansassociated with said upstanding element representing a certain type ofplaying piece in accordance with a conventional parlor game; and c)means for allowing for the personalization of said playing piece to fitthe customs or design of a particular user. 14 The personalized gameplaying pieces of claim 13 further characterized in that the upstandingelement on certain of said playing pieces comprises a pair of spacedapart plates capable of being spread apart to provide a gap therebetweenand which gap is sized to receive a substrate having personalizationthereon. 15 The personalized game playing pieces of claim 13 furthercharacterized in that one of said playing pieces has a representation ofa knight which can be used in the game of chess. 16 The personalizedgame playing pieces of claim 15 further characterized in that another ofthe personalized playing pieces is a representation of a knightdifferent from the first mentioned knight so that each player can have adifferent knight for use in a game of chess. 17 The personalized gameplaying pieces of claim 14 further characterized in that goblets areused to represent bishops in the game of chess.